Missing Pieces
by cckia27
Summary: Paige was staring at her shaking hands covered by a certain amount of blood and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't just wash it away. Where is this blood coming from? "Oh, God... Walter!" - Someone shot Walter, Who? Why? Many questions, one single answer: nothing is always what it seems. Mixture of romance/thriller - Lots of WAIGE.
1. Intro

_While I was trying to put together Burning Ammission, I started writing down this story and it all came together with the recent events on the show.  
I didn't forget about that unfinished story and I'm going to conclude it soon.  
Enjoy this one for now! And remember to check the dates of the events or you might get lost in future chapters._

 _Dedicated to all people who read and commented on my previous story  
and also to all the new one reader who might enjoy this piece._

* * *

 _ **Intro**_

 _February 13, 2016  
(Early morning)  
_

The garage was silent and peaceful. Suddenly Walter woke up all sweat in his bed and, between his heavy and long breaths, he tried to remember what was he was dreaming about. Of course that was The Nightmare, what else if not the constantly repeated events of Baghdad?  
This time something was different, he could feel it, also because he haven't had those nightmares for several months now.

' _Time to get up, if you don't remember it, it's because it wasn't important.'_  
However he always remembered his dreams, good or bad that they could have been. Bad where the worst but the good ones... right. He smirked at the sudden thought of one of the most beautiful dreams he ever had so far (and those always involved Paige).  
He shook his head. The genius promised himself to keep things as they were up to that moment, even though, the fact that he was constantly thinking about her wasn't helping his cause.  
Walter was losing his battle at keeping his mind away and his feeling at bay. Sure, he was conscious that he had feelings for her and for that very reason he decided that in the near future, if something would came up, he would have taken that step forward for real. Truth was he didn't want to lose her and keep pushing her away wasn't the right conclusion.

He leaned on the table covering his face with his hands for a brief second. Ray was right, 'don't let the distance get so far, you can never recouple the train'.  
He looked at the clock, 7.30 am. It was a manner of minutes before his team would enter the garage, so he decided to have a short and efficient breakfast and being able to spend some time on the rocket… A flash run through his mind. The rocket was long gone and he knew that. Another flash, this time it was like someone was trying to blind him with a lens, it was physical. Weird.  
Then Walter smelled something and looked down at the table to find a cup of hot coffee. _How the hell?_ With a slow movement of his hand the genius grabbed it. He was absorbed in his thought when he heard soft footsteps behind him. He imagined Paige coming up to tell him they had a new case and was ready to greet her with a wide smile on his face.

The cup crashed on the floor. Walter was in shock.

"You…" he tried to formulate words but all it came out was air.

"Walter you need to calm down or you'll go into shock. And we don't want _that_ ". The voice told him.

His head was starting to spin and he felt like he was going to pass out, even though he couldn't help but watching the figure in front of him. How was that even possible? Was he still dreaming? There wasn't another logical explanation he could have think about. Walter looked down once again and the cup was gone. What attracted his attention, however, was the bright red spot on his shirt. Suddenly he fell down on his back and a pair of hands were immediately on him. Walter recognized them immediately, they were Paige's.

"Walter, stay with me. Okay?… the ambulance is almost here." She said scared. He felt she had an hand on the red spot and in that his wound to try to stop the bleeding. It didn't look that good though. His head was already running calculations on his chances of survival. He stared at her and she reciprocated until…  
"YOU!" Paige yelled pointing at a man in a suit "Wake him up! NOW!". The man went out of sight and Walter kept wondering who she was referring too, obviously not him. He wasn't in his loft anymore, it was another house and he could see the sun dying under the horizon. Walter was utterly confused and everything was almost a blur.

He felt his eyes getting heavier, he was losing conscience so, just before went all dark, he grabbed Paige's hand to hold it tight. He wanted to tell her everything. Confess everything, his fears of not knowing what he was feeling and to finally let her know that he was indeed in love with her. He hoped she still felt the same and hadn't changed her mind because of their talk months before… unfortunately he hadn't the chance to say a single word and blackness came. Her hand never let him go.

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 _February 14, 2016  
(Morning)  
_

Paige was staring at her shaking hands covered by a certain amount of blood and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't just wash it away.

 _Where is this blood coming from? What happened to me?_

"Paige?" someone gently stroked her shoulder "Paige? Look at me". She recognized the voice. Cabe was standing in front of her. He gave her an awkward look and asked her if she wanted to go back in the hall.

"Oh, God…" The young woman whispered as she realized she was in the restroom of a hospital "Walter". Lost in her battle to remove all the red spots on her hands, Paige momentarily forgot where she was.  
As Toby would have said, her mind was probably trying to block out of her memory, the shock she just went through. In fact her hands were clean, it was all her imagination.

"Walter's going to be fine." Cabe tried to reassured her in a hug but she pushed him away. Paige didn't want comfort from anyone, not after all Walter went through these past few days. She had to be strong a look strong even if inside she was a castle of glass. Paige was sure that if anyone would have blown some emotional words her way, she would have crashed in million pieces. That couldn't ever happen. Actually, she thought, right now Walter was the one who needed to be comforted, so she needed to be as strong as possible. Once she shook herself awake, Paige opened the door and walked to the end of hall where she found Toby discussing with a doctor. Happy looked furious and Sylvester was visibly shaken. Megan made him stronger, but when a friend is hit, you don't really know if you're able to suppress your fears at all. And so they resurfaces… they were all over Sly's face. Paige didn't expect anything less from them, she knew all too well their behaviors, how they could react to such a news.  
As she arrived in front of the group, Toby stopped talking to observe her body language.

"Toby, I'm fine". She was ready for this.

"So says Walter and that's _never_ true". He cocked his head causing her to roll her eyes.

"Stop analyzing me. Ok? I am not Walter" she paused. "Doctor Ford, you were saying about Walter's conditions?"

The man in front of them was tall, good looking. He had some shades of grey in his hair but he wasn't too old, late thirty maybe. He coughed to prepare himself to repeat his little monologue.

"As I was explaining to your friends, Mr. O'Brien is stable now. Unfortunately, during the surgery, he lost a lot of blood which led to some complications. The shot wound h-…"

Toby cut him out, raising a hand and focusing on Paige instead, who immediately turned her head in his direction " Yes. Blah, blah, blah… Paige, the important thing now is that Walt's gonna be fine. In fact the doctor and I were already discussing the way he should be treated for his conditions. I'm a doctor graduated from Harvard and… most importantly, I'm a genius with an IQ of 178…"

"170" Happy corrected him.

"Yeah, whatever" Toby gave her a look "…so I think that I have the better solution to his currently situation." The doctor was about to reply but Paige was faster.

"Solution to what? I need to see him, now." she didn't think twice and started walking toward the entrance of where Walter should been taken when the doctor stopped her grabbing her wrist.

"Miss, you can't enter there… not yet, you aren't allow-" Paige set her hand free with a firm movement.

"Doctor? Cut the crap already. That wasn't a question, so you have two options… one: you'll be the one who takes me to his room; two: I'll find him by myself". Surely Paige's determination took the doctor aback.  
Toby eyed a smile on Happy's face. He was surrounded by strong women: Happy, the love his life, and Paige, the love of Walter's life… well, if he weren't too dumb to finally admit it.

Cabe moved in front of an almost furious Paige and took the doctor aside instead. "This badge tells she can enter wherever she wants" he showed his badge in all of its glory "And if she says she wants to see Walter, you make that happen. Are we clear?".

The doctor surrendered with a sighed and nodded. "Fine. But I can allow only one person to stay with the patient".

"Good." Cabe concluded.

"Paige, you stay with Walt as long as you need. Sleep if you can ok? We are heading to the police station where the agents have _her_ in custody…" Toby explained her marking the pronoun, avoiding to say the actual name out loud. No one wanted to hear it anyway. "I'll let the man here to play the doctor for a few hours. Then, he'll do as _I_ say." At these words Happy raised an eyebrow skeptical.

"Ralph is still at school and if I stay here…" Paige stated. She told him what happened even if she worried about his reaction. Walter was his best friend and she remembered what happened when he was stuck on the a cliff edge with Elia's Ferrari. Sometimes she still blame herself, no matter how many times Walter tried to reassure her that it wasn't her fault. She came to the conclusion that they were both right, she could have avoided the exploit of that night and he could have avoided taking the car and drive like crazy.  
Too much happened this past night and she couldn't wait to put all this at her back. If only the case was definitely closed. Paige needed to see her second favorite genius immediately, seeing with her eyes that he was fine.

"Don't worry, Paige. We'll take care of your son, everything's under control" Cabe lied. Nothing was under control and emotions were at the first place of the list. And he noticed how the shrink navigated well with words when he said 'situation'.

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"Do you know what day is today? It's Valentine's Day and…" Paige couldn't bring herself to say any other word. She didn't really know what to say actually, just the first silly thing that passed in her mind. It was killing her seeing Walter so vulnerable.  
Her eyes were glassy, they were like that since… she couldn't even remember. _Maybe I should get some sleep_. However her mind was running ideas, not like a genius, that's for sure, but her mind replayed many time the events in the hall.  
What Toby was trying to avoid to tell her, for whatever reason, was that Walter was in a coma. Perhaps he omitted that information because he saw how emotionally instable she was, behind the façade she pulled.

When she entered the room the doctor let her accommodate on a chair beside him.

"What I was trying to tell you before" he crossed his arms and sweetened the tone of his voice "your friend… is in a deep coma".

Paige, who never left eye contact with _her_ genius, instinctively looked up to meet the doctor's eyes. "Excuse me… what did you just say?" she barely spoke as tears started forming in her eyes.

"The bullet didn't perforate any vital organs, but his heart stopped during surgery. He is stable right now, but we need to do more tests to know something more. The reason I didn't allow any visitors around is because he needs to rest. A real good rest. But… deep down, I think that some company can't hurt". The doctor noticed her gesture and it didn't take a genius to figure some things out. "Are you his girlfriend?". Or at least he thought so.

Paige didn't expect the question. She was barely listening, but that last word caught her immediate attention. She turned to face the man with an hysterical laugh "Girlfriend? Oh, no. No, he's just a very good friend". Paige talked so fast that now her face was burning; she never felt so embarrassed before in her life. That was the reaction that comments of her Walter was causing her. She had a similar reaction also when she… kissed him. The truth? She lied about not feeling anything and she regretted it ever since. Sometimes she wonder he was lying too. Maybe… she hoped so.

"I'm sorry, I just… noticed the way you grabbed his hand and caressed his hair, so I assumed you were a couple". She really did that? God, she must have been in auto-pilot or something because she didn't even realized it. Instinctively she put her hands on her thighs far away from Walter.

Seeing embarrass on her face and the way she distanced herself from the patient, the doctor cursed himself for being so indiscrete but instead of apologize he tried something else instead "Well, you know… I wanted to be a psychiatrist, but then things changed and… well, here I am. You look attracted to him, just-". He said scratching his ear noticing her deadly stare.

"Oh, you're a _Toby_ then, same level of (in)discretion… how fortunate that is" she whispered while the doctor raised his eyebrows. The man didn't get a single word, but understood one thing, better shut it and leave.

Now, finally alone with Walter she talked of various silly stuff and about Valentine's. She also asked him if he heard what the doctor said.

"You know Walter? I wish that was true." Being her girlfriend.  
And with that, she laid her head near his arm and fell asleep holding his hand.

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His eyes suddenly open once again.

 _Good… it was just a dream_. He told himself.  
Walter stretched his arms on the couch, he must have fallen asleep there the night before. Proton Arnold was still on, emitting few sounds once in a while. He heard a voice and soon a smile formed on his lips.  
Paige was still there and she must have moved in the loft to do some last calls. It was evening and the sun was already gone. He heard her saying something about… Valentine's?

He stopped on the stairs. What if she was dating someone? She would have told him, wouldn't she?  
Walter pushed the door of his loft open but no one was there.

"Hello?... Paige?". Silence. The genius observed the room. Was it only his imagination?

 ** _You know Walter? I wish that was true._**

Those words echoed loud in the room as if they came from a speaker. Walter at this point started panicking, realizing that the dream wasn't over… at first he thought he was down the rabbit hole, but hallucinations aren't part of that world, or at least not like this one. He took a deep break and tried to analyze what was real and what wasn't.  
"I woke up from a bad dream, I wanted to have breakfast but the cup of coffee and then…" things started to be clearer as a solution arrived. "The garage isn't real!" quickly he remembered the blood on his shirt, so he checked it. No blood "This doesn't makes sense".

"Doesn't it?" it was that voice again. That figure again in the dark. It took a step forward, then another one and another one while it kept talking "But it could, Walt. You only need to put all the dots together. Come on, unlock your brain.".

"But… I can't, I can't remember" he was about to cry, overwhelmed by emotions. "I just can't".

"It's all in your mind. See?" the figure stopped and pointed at his abdomen. Walter followed with his eyes and blood was all over his shirt. "Who, Walt? Who shot you?"

"MEGAN, I DON'T KNOW!"

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks for reading this! Reviews are always welcomed!**


	2. Chapter 1 - The Girl

_Thanks for all the reviews you wrote! I assure you... the more you read, the more it gets easier and everything is going to be explained.  
Here's another chapter._

* * *

 _ **Chapter**_ _ **1  
The Girl**_

 _February 13, 2016_  
 _Evening – The day Walter got shot_

Paige and Toby were running fast on the path of a residence. Based on the information acquired to stop a vicious revenge, they were running out of and at this point, it was all or nothing.  
The targets were three important figures of the State: sergeant Francis Morse, judge Annie Colton and senator Michael Hamill. Walter searching for the truth about _his_ personal case found out that a couple of events were connected to a bigger plan. At that very moment he was lost somewhere in the city, well, actually he was on the run, but despite the fact that all the members of his team were under surveillance he called them to warn them about the attack. FBI and Homeland joined forces at the wake of his breakaway and they were only waiting for him to make the wrong move like put himself in contact with Team Scorpion. He had no other choice and he had a plan anyway…

 _The phone in the garage started ringing. All the presents turn their heads toward the source of the sound. A technician, sat at the conference table with headphones on, pressed his fingers on the keyboard as an agent gave him a sign to start to record. Then this agent look at Paige asking her to answer the phone._

" _Hello?" she tried to sound normal, her body was failing her as tension and anxiety were running through, and what came out of her lips was barely a mumble. This situation was pushing hard on her nerves and Paige being commended against her will was one of the reason she wanted all this to end as soon as possible. She cleared her throat and tried once again "Hello?"._

" _Paige… it's me". She almost cried to the sound of his voice. No, no… why are you calling here? She asked herself panicking and picking at the team. Toby, Happy and Cabe were standing near the stairs to the loft and Sly just few steps away near the kitchen. They were surprised, Toby even rolled his eyes while Cabe frowned concentrated and probably asking himself why his surrogate son would have called them giving his high IQ._

" _Paige… Are you there?" Walter asked again through the device._

" _Y-yeah. I'm here… where are you?" Paige replied as she read the agent in front of her waved a piece of paper in front of her eyes. They would have told her what to say or what to ask._

 _Walter averted the question and moved forward "I know they're listening" and by 'they' he meant everyone "but we don't have much time. We have a situation wider than me being on the run… Listen carefully…"._

 _Walter explained everything, names of the criminals behind the attack apart. He didn't have those yet but he was dangerously near… if only he knew that once he uncovered the truth, that would have led him to get himself almost killed._

 _Obviously neither the FBI or Homeland would let Team Scorpion out, so they found they own breakthrough. Cabe and Sly ran to the judge while Happy went to the sergeant…_

Paige was faster than Toby so she pushed the main door open, so he could pass her without losing precious time. Behind them, a couple of gorillas in suit kept were yelling and trying to speed up their run to be able to reach them.  
Toby correctly guessed that the Senator was still working in his study and slammed the half shut door open bumping into a man, a delivery guy.

"Don't touch that-" Toby tried pushing the man aside, but it was too late.

The Senator of the California, Michael Hamill, had an envelope in his hands, but the paper fell on the floor as soon as Toby's loud voice startled him.

"Wha-… who the hell are you?! How did you get in here?" Senator Hamill asked surprised. "I'm calling the police". He picked up the receiver at his desk while his men struggling in their heavy breaths were about to handcuff Paige and Toby.

"Toby, where is the silver pin?" Paige commented looking for the object around the room. "I only see the envelope…"

Toby nodded "Yes. This is… wrong. AH! You hurt my wrist!" the shrink shot a glare at the taller man who roughly closed the cuff on his wrists. Then with a frown he turned to look the Senator straight in the eyes and deadpanned. "Senator Hamill, someone was planning to kill you with a silver pin, it wasn't supposed to be a letter. Well, only if you're not Michael Hamill-".

"Of course I am, who else should live here?" he raised his hands "The question is who are you!".

Paige took advantage of the situation and prevented Toby to say something inopportune. She walked in front of the desk where the Senator was standing with the receive still at midair in his right hand. "Sir, my name is Paige Dineen and this is Toby Curtis we work with-".

Something that hit the floor with a thud. Then another one. The Senator's eyes shot open revealing fear. There was only one other man in the room… someone who never left and just knock the guards out.  
 _Was it the delivery guy?_ Paige didn't even remember him staying in the room noticed. It was Toby's turn to fall down, only few feet away from her. He hadn't the chance to react. Paige automatically turned to check on the unconscious genius, but she froze soon not sure on what to do. Time was running slower, but she knew it was only her perception. At that point she was facing the assaulter.

"You're pretty. Too bad you've seen my face, now I have to kill you" he said calm. Paige was terrified, hands cuffed behind her back and alone, since that coward of the senator went quickly under the table to hide. She saw the gun raised few inches away from her chest, and she prayed for someone to come and save her. How stupid was that, right? So she closed her eyes and a shot arrived abruptly, causing her to jump out of her skin; she heard it loud in the room.  
Paige was shivering but nothing more than that. She didn't feel anything except for the loud beat of her heart that sounded like a noisy drum in her chest. She feared to open her eyes, she feared a lot, so she kept them shut as hard as she could.

"Paige?" the voice was heavy, tired. She recognized it again immediately, it was beautiful and it made her feel safe "Open your eyes… It's me, Walter" and so she obeyed.

White as a ghost he was standing on the door step. Paige saw with the corner of her eye the delivery guy laid on the floor, her eyes were all too focused on Walter who gave her a little smile right before he dropped on the floor.

"WALTER!". She reach him fast and fell on her knees beside him with her hands still behind her back. Only then she noticed the blood on his dark blue shirt. _Oh my God!_ She struggled because she couldn't help him like that. He could barely keep his eyes open. "The handcuffs! Take them off" she commanded the Senator appeared from behind his chair. The coward, as she started calling him, immediately searched for the keys in one of his guards pockets and set her hands free.

"I'm calling an ambulance." The Senator proposed grabbing his phone from the couch near them.

Paige nodded in response since she was focused on Walter and started pressing her hand on his bleeding wound. She leaned on him to comfort him running her fingers slowly through his short curls.

"Walter, stay with me. Okay?… the ambulance is almost here." Paige was scared. She didn't want to lose him… not now, not ever. "YOU! Wake him up! NOW!" the Senator once again did what he was told and fast he started shook Toby awake.

Paige needed the shrink more than anything else, he would have known what to do for Walter. She caressed Walter's forehead and cupped his cheek as she asked him with her soft voice. "Walter? Who did this?" he was staring deeply in her eyes, pain was written all over his face. He tried to formulate a sentence in vain. Then he tried again, taking a deep breath "You-… is… M-Mo…" he was getting angry and winced in pain.

"Walter!" Toby was now by Paige's side. "Let me take a look at the wound." he demanded moving her hand from the red spot. "Damn it, it doesn't look good. What the hell were you thinking Walt?".

"He wasn't shot here Toby…" Paige spoke with a shaky voice "He was already… oh my… he shot him" she pointed at the man behind them. Toby stared at the delivery guy.

"That bastard. My head is pounding because of him… is he dead?". The Senator checked his pulse and nodded.

"Hey… look at me, please." She reassured Walter placing her hand on his chin to help him move his face toward her. "You are gonna be fine, okay?"  
Paige was trying with all of her efforts to be strong, but poorly failing. Her voice cracked at last and her glassy eyes couldn't contain the water anymore. Tears started falling from her dams, it was a real breakthrough she couldn't stop anymore.

"P-Paige… don't" Walter barely spoke. He plead her to not cry as he was slowly fading. He grabbed her hand with a firmly movement, even if it was harder and harder for him to stay awake. "I-I…"

Toby was working on his wound as Walter groaned in pain. The doc asked him to stay still "I know it hurts like hell, we've been there already… remember? I need you to take a deep break" then he repeated Paige's question. _Who did this to you?_

"Last p-ph-…phone." The dying man replied. "ca-call…" Walter fainted.

She wanted to do it before, she was already prepared for Toby's reaction; she didn't care.  
Paige leaned on his lips and gave him a brief little kiss on the corner of his mouth.

"Seriously?" Toby was once again surprised by her _'actions'_ "Couldn't you just do it when he was still awake… or this is becoming a thing between y-"

"Shut…"

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 _February 14, 2016  
Afternoon – Room 207_

"…up, Toby!" Paige suddenly woke up in the hospital room.

"I haven't said a word… yet" Toby was sitting on chair at the edge of the bed.

Paige searched for Walter, only to find still asleep in that hospital bed and still in the same position. Not that she expected him to move, the man was in a coma after all. _God, he was in a coma_. It was the first time she fell asleep after the events of the previous day and she revived that nightmare already.

Still half asleep she glanced at Toby. "Why are you here? I thought the doctor said…"

"Sure. He likes to talk, a lot…" He moved his hands to mimic a talking mouth, then he crossed his arms and shifted in his seat. "I'm here because I have news on the case and on _the bitch_. Or so called…Adriana Molina." Toby began his story from the very beginning.

 _Walter's phone call list revealed the name of his last call. Sylvester hacked in the telephone company and found what they were looking for._

" _I need to talk to you. In person." Walter's voice said.  
"Do you realize that-"  
"I know." He cut her off "I know the truth about the girl and the story behind the murder of the young hacker. I need you to trust me as I'm trusting you."  
"Fine... I knew you would have find 'that' out sooner than later... Where?"  
"Kovelski. In 30 minutes."  
"I'll be there"._

 _With that call and the video of surveillance from a camera on the opposite side of the street, there was no doubt she was the culprit. The video didn't reveal the actual shooting, but she was there and Team Scorpion saw that. They had it on video._

"… I know it might be odd, but I don't think it's her" admitted an uncomfortable Toby shifting again in his chair. "She's smarter than that".

Paige moved her chair near the bed adjusting its position so she could face him better. Instinctively she took Walter's hand and started drawing circles on his palm. Toby clearly noticed it but said nothing.

"Why do you think she's innocent? She shot him!" she said almost hysterically, but lowering her voice.

"She was preoccupied, a little scared but not about Walter. Sure, she denied everything, despite the evidence against her, but then she said something that that led me to believe that she was telling the truth... that she didn't shoot Walter. And I bet my money that it's something about that girl." he weighted his words before he continued "Molina said that the evidence are misleading even geniuses like us should notice that. But she refused to say anything when Cabe mentioned the girl, her body language changed and to a defensive position, indicating that there was some repressed fear... anyway... we found a lead on the murder."

"What about it?" Paige raised her eyebrows as she briefly picked in Walter's direction.

Toby adjusted his hat. "She claimed she didn't kill the hacker, which it must be truth... and she gave an address where to find him". Paige was confused "Yeah, I know. The director said he was still alive, but didn't gave any explanation on the matter. Happy and Cabe should be on the location right now… guess we'll know something soon".

"Right... I should call Ralph now." Paige searched for her purse and once she found her phone she asked Toby if he could stay with Walter in case anything happened.

"Take all the time you need. We're not going anywhere". Toby gave her a reassuring smile before she disappeared behind the door. Then, and only then, he cleared his throat and moved his chair neared Walter. "Oh man, you have know idea how lucky you are having such a good girl around. If only you could stop this" raising two pair of fingers to quote "fraternization, you'll be happier. Scorpion won't die because you are in love with someone... and I'm talking from experience.".

The shrink was silent for a while then he reprised his 'one way' conversation "Just wake up soon, buddy... okay?".

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 _February 14, 2016  
Walter's mind_

"I told you… I don't know. I-I can't remember.". Walter was on the floor on his knees, tears now streamed on his face. It couldn't just stop it because of all these overwhelming emotion that shot him right in the stomach. He didn't experienced anything like that before. Maybe once, when he finally admitted he was in denial about his sister's death... about that... Megan, sitting beside him, moved a lock of her dark hair behind her ear. Abruptly, the brother jumped ahead and hold her in a sincere hug "I missed you so much" he whispered ashamed. Walter O'Brien never enjoyed physical contact, everybody knew that. However he had his few exceptions, her sister... and Paige.  
"Walter…" she said repressing a laugh, "You're holding me too tight!"

He leaned back to ask "Umm, sorry..." he paused staring at the floor. Slowly he looked up at Megan and said calm "Am I dead?"

"Do you really believe in life after death?" she replied serious, crossing her arms.

"No". He shook his head. If there was something Walter didn't believe in, it was the afterlife. "So,... if I'm not dead… why are you here? What is this place?".

"I'm here to help you remember and this is your mind, of course... more specifically, a representation of your memories." She smiled.

Walter was slightly perplexed. He excluded it was a rabbit hole, but there was something that reminded him of a sort of a vivid dream even if he never experienced anything like this before. It looked so real. He came to the conclusion that it was reality mixed with his perception of the ambient around him. He could hear the surroundings, the voices the doctors, Paige's..., but he was trapped in his own mind.  
Walter took a deep breath and started running all the options and possibilities at him known. _I need to get up_.

"But you can't" Megan replied.

"I haven't talked out loud…" he opened his eyes observing her features. She was wearing her favorite shirt, (he knew he told her so only because he was the one who gave it to her). "So, if I'm correct... you don't exist. You are only in my imagination..."

"Exactly, so why am I here genius? I know you're going to ask me if I know who shoot you. No. It's blocked in your mind… and you can't access it neither can I".

"Because whatever happened shocked me? Or maybe..." Walter got up and started pacing the garage up and down "because the trauma and the wounds on my body weighted on the state I'm actually in... In conclusion I assume I'm in a coma because I'm not able to respond to external stimuli, like light or voices and I'm sure I sensed both of them. And neither to my internal ones, like waking up or go to pee... It seems an obvious and concrete solution." Walter analyzed every detail he was currently aware of "And, since you can't tell me anything that I've already know... Where do we start?".

An idea arrived in Walter's head like a storm. The genius walked fast toward the blackboard and grabbed one of Sylvester's chalks. He smiled, seeing how the chalks were ordered by dimension and color, so he took the first and bigger one, and started drawing an straight line part to part. At the bottom right he wrote: SHOT.

Suddenly a voice startled him. _**Or so called…Adriana Molina.**_

 _Hey, wasn't that Toby's voice?_ Walter was overwhelmed by a smell and, as he previously presumed, he was indeed in a hospital. His conclusion was correct, there was a 98% of chance of being in comatose state and at the same time he hated being right, because then this meant that his body was too weak and was failing him. Fortunately there wasn't any sign of no brain damages and that was a very good thing; his mind was still working well and fast.

Walter couldn't do much at this point, he had to wait. He knew he was young and strong and according to his calculations he should have woke up in a few days. The odd thing was that he couldn't remember how he got there and why. So the only thing he could do was trying to remember.  
The genius stared at the black board as name started to echoing in his head. Toby said that name, but he captured only the last few words of that sentence. Molina… Molina. _Think Walter... think,_ he told himself.

"Oh, look at this Walter. Sylvester put a beautiful picture in a heart shaped frame. Hmm... This is made of metal. Obviously from Happy".

Walter dropped the chalk. "What did you just say?"

Megan snorting took few step toward her brother and shoved the object in front of his eyes. "See? I said that Sylvester put a-"

"No, no, no. You said... _frame_ " Walter closed eyes scratching his temple and muttering "Molina + frame = ...FRAMED. Ohh-oh-oh… looks like my brain is beginning to be efficient once again.".

"You... framed... by Molina. Did she shot you too?" Megan carefully placed the frame back on Sylvester's table. Walter was about to say something but Megan spoke first "Yeah, sure that's illogical. Why should she frame you to just shoot you a moment later?".

Megan took the laptop from Walter's desk and hand it to him. "Come on let's watch what just came up in there". She knocked on his skull a couple of times while he stared at her baffled.

Confusion was written all over his face. "Just because I said I pause and replay my dreams... I never intended literally through a computer.".

Walter had to admit that the whole computer thing was fascinating and almost gave in to try if it worked out, but he shook himself awake, if that could be even possible and marched to his desk.  
He put his laptop at the same spot where it was taken and sat there on his chair. Truth was that he was tired. He was thinking... perhaps too hard, even if he knew that his brain was trying to send him a message and he only needed the right password to decrypt it. Also he thought that if he fell asleep, it could have been forever. He was scared that the cells of his brain could stop functioning and lead him to a definite death. He needed to solve his case... and most importantly he needed to wake up.

Walter started his train of thoughts looking at Megan "Okay... so. You're obviously here for a reason. It could have been anyone else," the first person he thought about was Paige, he was thinking about her so much lately "but my mind chose _you_... maybe because someone's sister is implicated in my case? And why the garage. Something's happened here, perhaps..."

 _Of course!_ In that very moment he started to remember things, when it all began... _and the sister?_ Oh, the sister was the most important piece of the puzzle, the reason he needed to wake up as soon as possible. And last, but not least, there was the 'being shot' event. Now Walter knew that it wasn't important who shot but who didn't.

"Would you like to revisit those events to fill the blank spaces you still have?" Megan asked.

"Sure... wise choice, Megan. Hmm,... let's see. It was after a case. The team and I were back at the garage after the last case we've been called to solve and it wasn't a complete success. I remember that we caught an hacker who wanted to destroy the Government, but there were two of them and the second man ran away. And... and I was working on something else in the loft... another case about drug, no... silver pins? That's confusing..."

And as Walter started to recover his memory, every piece began to fit in the right place...

* * *

 **AN: Thanks for reading... Write a review if you can, it's always truly appreciated! To be continued.**


	3. Chapter 2 - Framed

_Thank you always for the reviews!  
Thanks a lot, Lola. I was stuck in 2015, the story takes place in 2016. So I corrected the previous chapters.  
If you get confused about the events always be sure to check the days.  
Anyway I decided to do a little recap of the previews chapters (jump ahead if you don't want to read them):_

 _(( Walter was trying to clear his name after someone framed him. He was on the run when, searching for clues to help his case, he found some events connected to a bigger plan: a vicious revenge against a sergeant, a judge and a senator. Even if his team was under surveillance he called to warn them to look for a silver pin, the object designed to kill those three people… so the team ran to save those people. However, something was wrong, the senator wasn't going to be killed by the pin but by an assassin sent to finish the job in person (probably because he was more important than the others). Toby and Paige were there to save the man's life and, if wasn't for Walter who saved them by shooting the killer, they'd be probably all dead. Soon Walter dropped on the floor because of a shot wound on his chest. Before the genius fell into a deep coma Paige an Toby asked him who was responsible and, strained, he indicated his phone call list.  
The list revealed that the last call he made was to Molina, so the team recovered the conversation. It appeared that Walter and the director had a meeting at Kovelski and the woman shot him. Molina was taken in custody by the police and during the interrogation they also talked about a girl, whose identity wasn't revealed yet but mentioned in the phone call. Despite the evidence Toby believed Molina's innocence.  
In the meantime Walter, in a coma, started experiencing a mix of reality and hallucinations. His memory was blocked, but his mind was trying to send him hints on what happened.  
Hints:  
1\. his sister Megan, who he figured out was an important piece of the puzzle.  
2\. The place where it all started, the garage/loft.  
3\. Megan talking and the objects around him, frame: framed.  
4\. The voices of Paige and Toby that he was hearing through the coma.  
With these elements he started putting the piece together… ))  
_

* * *

 _ **Chapter**_ _ **2  
Framed**_

 _February 9, 2016  
Night – Walter's loft_

"…Earth call Walter?" Paige waved her hands in front of the genius eyes to catch his attention. He looked up at her hand for a brief second, the right amount of time to register that movement. In fact right after he gave sign he was still alive and breathing he went back to his deepest thoughts, absorbed by the monitor in front of him as nothing happened.

"Not hungry. I'm just a step away from concluding this important research… umm, and then I'll take some sleep. Go without me" he deadpanned, eyes jumping from side to side like he was intent to catch something in the bright screen.

Team Scorpion arrived at the garage from a mission in Washington DC, few minutes before. The humor was buried under the shoes. They failed to arrest two hackers who wanted to destroy the Government by revealing all the dirty secrets there were to be known. They were able to catch one of them while the other one ran away. Evidence revealed that someone unknown, presumably a mole, provided the two of them a way out, just before the authorities reached them. And one now was on the run, so the FBI took over the case.

When Toby proposed to go out and grab something to eat, everyone agreed except for Walter.

However, when everyone was gone, Paige didn't move too curious to comprehend what he was working on. After a couple of minutes in silence, Walter realized that she was still standing there and he assumed that she asked him something he didn't hear. He stopped his train of thoughts and shifted his gaze to hers.

"I'm sorry Paige, what did you said?" he tried a genuine smile, but failing miserably. He tried too hard.

"I said nothing. I was… what are you working on?" raising an eyebrow, she pointed at the computer. She took few steps around the desk and stopped right beside him. Paige was looking at the monitor puzzled.

"Oh, my re-research?" suddenly he was feeling uncomfortable. He experienced that a lot lately and he came to the conclusion that her proximity wasn't good for him to concentrate at best. Then her lavender scent was hitting his senses and he thought he could get lost in it. "Umm.. yeah. It's from the previous case we worked on. Remember?"

"The drug dealers who stole a stock of silver pins instead of cocaine from what they thought was a building owned by the cartel? That was a funny one" she said trying to repress a laugh.

"Don't you find it odd?" he showed he few images of maps, locations signed. "They had everything planned in details… even though they entered the wrong building. It didn't make sense… well, until I found a connection with a famous boss, who goes by the name La Lievre, it means-"

"…Hare, I know" she concluded covering his hand with hers. She didn't think about it, that just happened.

"M-Maybe it's nothing," he continued. Paige sensed lots of awkwardness caused by her gesture and she retracted her hand immediately. "…but the guy doesn't exist, anybody knows his name or ever saw his face… At this point I'm waiting for this research to be completed and finally give me some results… it should take an half an hour at most.".

Walter took a long deep breath. And since Paige wasn't saying a word he concluded. "You should go… the guys are waiting for you".

There, he was doing puppy eyes. Probably he didn't even realize it, but Paige adored when he pulled out that face, she couldn't help but smile. "You were so busy with your research that you didn't even heard me saying that I was tired and I preferred to go home and take some sleep." That was a big lie. All she wanted to do was spending some time with Walter, because, despite all the efforts she put in motion to avoid her feelings, those bitches always came back haunting her, pleading her to give in. And she was starting to accepting them.

"Oh, I see." Walter was now lost in her eyes as they were magnets. God, he didn't even know what to say. He added the first thing that passed in his mind "Goodnight then".

Now his smile was genuine. Paige recognized it and she wanted to treasure it in her mind, but, as always between them, the silence started getting awkward so she nodded and started walking away. Suddenly she changed her mind, _it now or never_. "Are you sure that you are not hungry? We can always order something". She offered insecure.

 _We_ … she wasn't tired then. She just wanted to stay there and Walter clueless until that very moment, finally he realized that maybe, and only maybe, it could have been a step forward in their relationship.

"Paige…" Suddenly fear took over his brain, _what if he ended up ruining everything?_ "I really need to finish this. It must be something big and if it is so we might have to reopen the case."

Her eyes were full of disappointment and it hurt. "Paige, we agreed to-"

"No… You know what? It doesn't mind, you're right. I'm tired anyway… I-I'm going home" she quickly picked up her stuff and walked to the door avoiding his eyes. She knew he was watching her and she couldn't bring herself to face the look on his face. Because Paige was pissed and she had every right to be. One moment Walter looked like he was pleased of her presence there, then the next one it was like he committed a mistake, an incorrect equation, and so he was pushing her aside, far on the last forgotten shelf in that big space. That hurt and she couldn't help but running away as fast as she could.  
Paige felt stupid even to think that maybe he was changing his mind about _them_. All the signal he was giving her actually led her to believe that they were going somewhere, romantically. For a minute she forgot he'd never been comfortable with the word _romance_. She's always been patient, immensely patient… but slowly she was reaching a point of no return. Paige realized that maybe he would have never reciprocate the feelings she had for him.

Walter watched her slamming the door behind her without even say goodbye. He cursed himself for what he said, he ended up hurting her more, hurting her feelings. Of course… what was he thinking? She was clearly pissed and he couldn't blame her. He promised himself he would have been made it up to her, because despite the limits of his EQ he recognized that the unknown land of emotions and reciprocate feelings might have been the best thing so far since Paige and Ralph came into his life. Walter recognized that him keep pushing her away was already ruined everything and in that very moment he felt that he couldn't to lose her. Maybe that was his sister really meant about love… he already found it without even realizing.

A loud beep brought him back to reality and looked intensely to the monitor before his eyes.  
Looking for a connection between the names of those dealers and the silver pins, Walter developed an all new clever software that permitted him to run a research of any recorded call, in the last two weeks in which he could isolate the important conversations containing a determinate information, in half of the time a normal search should take. After two hours, twenty-seven minutes and nine seconds he finally had a match.

Walter thought that the man who made the call wasn't that smart. He should have used a burner instead of a normal phone. On the other side he was satisfied for having reached a result, so he started immediately the recording:

" _Yes?"  
"Miss, we have eyes on those lame silver pins… You better be sure that we're going to get double for stealing those stupid things instead of-".  
"If everything goes as planned you're going to be payed as much as we agreed…"_

Walter suddenly opened his eyes wide staring at the dark in front of him. Shock ran down his spine as he recognized that voice… a female voice. It was the Director of Homeland Security, Adriana Molina.  
The recording continued but Walter wasn't paying attention anymore. _Why she was dealing with those people?_ The researched he made on her the first time didn't show connections with these kind of men. _Something happened to her? He missed it… How?_

He checked the stock confiscated, searching for any clues. Various documents appeared on the screen. I that moment he would have liked to have Sylvester beside him, he was faster at memorizing numbers, names… those pieces of paper were inconclusive. However, it was clear that those pins served to something more important than drug…  
Walter decided to keep these new information for himself, once he figured out something more he would have faced Molina and asked her for a good explanation. There was a good chance that a two different missions were in fact only one, but it was also strange that it never came up during their investigation.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

 _February 11, 2016  
Morning – Garage_

Paige wasn't in the mood for smiles. In the last few days she barely spoke to Walter, even if he tried his best to apologize and more than once. Deep inside she knew that she was acting childish, she even admired his persistence of making good of what he wronged. In the end Paige decided to talk to him, confronting the argument of "fraternization" once for all.

Walter couldn't stop apologizing, not only verbally. He made her coffee, her favorite with cinnamon, he favorited her to safer mansion on the last fast mission they've been called on. She always pushed him away, not that he expected anything less.  
The genius couldn't stop looking at her, trying to figure her out. Despite his reluctance he even asked Toby for advice.

"Oh, Walter... I have yet to figure out what you did this time to piss her off. You messed up big this time and this is bad."

"Thank you Toby. I wouldn't _never_ figure that out myself." Walter replied with a note of sarcasm. Then he opened the gates and told him everything.

"Don't try to apologize anymore… you did enough. Now you have to wait for her to decide. And be even more attentive of her needs than you've already been so far.". Toby had in front of him a confused Walter who spoke lowering his voice and checking the area to be sure no one was listening.

"Am I _that_ attentive?" he remarked the last word with emphasis.

"Well… you never made me coffee, or brought me an hot bagel… or clean up my desk before." Toby rolled his eyes "…like hell you are attentive! And I've already told you that, remember? Last year when I draw the 'waige' board… The sticky people you couldn't bring yourself to erase because they showed you and Paige holding hands-"

"Yeah… yeah. Got it" Walter cut him short. He looked away.

In that moment the door of the garage shut open and two agents followed by Molina entered the garage.

"Woah… who are these penguins… Cabe?" Happy asked immediately ignoring the Director's presence.

Everybody turned to face those _intruders_ and waited what it appeared to be a very long minute. At first they thought their presence a new case for Team Scorpion, but instantly abandoned that idea because something was off.  
In spite of this, Walter was more focused on Molina since all he could think about was that call. The past few days took him away from his research, but he figured he should have saved some time to talk to her.

"Walter O'Brien?" the first agent finally spoke, finishing the genius thoughts.

"Yes?" Walter walked past the kitchen and stopped right under the stairs, catching the attention of the man who spun his head few inches toward and examined him up and down. _By his manners and the posture I'd say that he's definitely a robot,_ he thought to himself.

"Mr. O'Brien, you're under arrest for the murder of Jeremy Hills." The man firmly spoke.

The second agent moved forward and started cuffing the genius, while the first one kept reading his rights. Walter was speechless and, lips parted, he stared at Molina who broke eye contact as soon as Cabe started shouting.

"What the hell is going on? Who's that guy?" Cabe was furious "Kid, we're going to figure out what happened…". He moved closer to Walter but the second agent lifted an arm toward him to prevent him to go further and commended him to stay back.

"It's the hacker" an anxious Sylvester commented. "Jeremy Hills is the hacker that got away".

"Walter?" Paige voice echoed in the genius hear who finally broke his stare and turn to see her face. It was heartbroken and confused at the same time, it was like, for a moment, she forgot her anger. Walter wanted to tell her it was a nonsensical mistake and there was nothing to be afraid of, but something blocked him.  
Paige noticed his gesture and caught the hint, so she gave him a shy smile of comfort.

The team powerless watched the agents pushing Walter out of the door and then in the car. They immediately shot a deadly glare at Molina, they wanted some very good explanations.

"I know what you are thinking. The agents are only doing their job." Molina explained the situation "Hills was found dead early this morning in an abandoned building. The evidence led the investigation toward Walter who looks like being the perpetrator…".

"That's absurd" Happy hammered a screwdriver in the middle of the wooden table. "Of what evidence are we talking about?".

"It's classified". The Director replied dry.

"Of course it is!" Paige put her hand on the hips irritated. "He wouldn't never commit a crime, let alone murder someone!".

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

 _February 16, 2016  
Afternoon – Room 207_

Two days passed from the shooting. Paige was tracing Walter features with her eyes, he looked so peaceful sleeping in that bed. She cupped his cheek and rubbed his skin for a few seconds. Paige begged him to wake up more than once in the last few days and carried on apologizing for her anger toward him. "I'm here, Walter. Please, open your eyes… I l-" she was about to say the L word, although she never did. She would have restrained herself from doing it until he was conscious.  
Her mind was also on the case of the death hacker.

The team interrogated Molina the morning after her arrest, while she was at the hospital, beside the bed where Walter was lying on since. Molina admitted of being responsible of framing Walter, but she claimed it was only a temporary measure to something more important. The Director provided the location where she conveniently hid the hacker and she denied the shooting. It wasn't her. Only Toby believed her, but this time no one was listening at his words and he didn't have any concrete proof… not yet.  
Cabe and Happy controlled the place indicated by Molina, but it was empty. Then the DNA results of the murdered man were clear as day, the body in the morgue belonged to Jeremy Hills. Since that day the Director refused to collaborate and her lawyer gained an order that kept her from being interrogated again from Team Scorpion.  
However they didn't stop at that. Sylvester was searching for an hard disk or any other device in which Walter could have stored the evidence against Molina. He found nothing until that moment and as the human calculator used to say there was a 95% chance that someone implied took it first and perhaps already destroyed it. In fact the rest of the team was looking for accomplices.

Paige leaned forward and kissed Walter's forehead. "Toby is absolutely sure of Molina's innocence…. If only you could wake up and tell us what really happened." She concluded in a whisper as a small tear escaped her eye, so she hastily dried it away "I miss you, Walter. Come back to me… you know what I mean. Please" she was begging him again.

"You always told me I'm good with people and I know how to use words to be convincing when it's needed. So I managed to get an order… I'm going to meet her this afternoon" she rubbed his hand "Molina is tough, but I want to comprehend if Toby is right... Of course I'm no genius" her lips let escape a little laugh "but my instinct always helped me through difficult times, so...".

In that moment, Ralph walked past the door followed by Cabe.  
All together decided they all would have taken turns. No matter how much Paige wanted to be constantly present for Walter, she was a mother too. And Ralph was her priority.

"Okay, guys. I'm leaving now." Paige affirmed as she left her usual spot. She put in order her son's hair and gave him a little kiss. "Don't forget the scouts meeting in an half ok?" and Ralph nodded.

"Toby is gonna be here in a few… as soon as he enters that door we're leaving" Cabe reassured her giving her a warm smile.

"Perfect" Paige quickly checked Walter and she left.

Ralph was the first to break the silence "Do you think that my mom is in love with Walter?".

Cabe was taken aback by such a direct question. Ralph always stunned him, that's why he reminded him of Walter when he was his age. He let a laugh escape.

"Are you uncomfortable with that question?" Cabe raised his eyebrows as the little genius continued "My mom was too when I asked her. She avoided the question offering me more ice cream, so I didn't pushed the argument further.".

"The little boy knows what's going on… I had no doubts" Toby said walking through the door. "Ralphy boy, I guess that's a question for another day".

Ralph glanced at him unconvinced.

Cabe was glad Toby intervened. The Paige and Walter territory was a wild one, something he haven't yet figure it out. For all that he was aware of those kids were a mess right now. It was clear that either of them had decided where they were standing yet, even though the currently situation could have changed everything forever.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

 _Later that afternoon – Prison_

Paige was nervous. She checked her phone three, four times before the woman arrived. Molina looked pretty pale and tired. She sat in front of her. The visit room was empty except for the guard in front of the door at their left.

"You're alone." She commented like she expected someone else.

"Yes, I arranged a visit alone with you." Paige tapped her nails on the surface of the grey table. "You look like hell".

Molina let a smile escape her lips, but she repressed it immediately as she was afraid someone was controlling her. "Why are you here? To ask him if I shot Walter?... For the last time, I didn't".

"What if I believe you?" Paige caught her full attention. Toby was right, there was something in her eyes that screamed innocence. She was confused, maybe also relieved. Paige leaned in and rested the elbows on the table. "Would you tell me who framed you? Or why you framed Walter?"

"I can't…" Molina whispered looking far away from Paige's pleading eyes.

"I have all the time" she encouraged the woman who let herself smile in response.

"Walter called me, he asked me to meet him at Kovelski… but once I arrived, he was gone." She shrugged.

"Who's _the girl_ he was talking about in the conversation?"

"There was blood" she avoided the question shaking her head and lowered her voice instead, "but anyone was there, n-o o-n-e… I never planned to kill him or anybody else… someone framed me…"she laughed "How ironic, don't you think?... that wasn't the plan. That wasn't _my_ plan."

Abruptly, she stood up and called the guard. "The visit is over". And Paige let her go in silence.

Paige was heading off the room when she received a call from Cabe.  
"What?" she couldn't believe his words… for a second she froze, literally… body and brain. She stopped functioning, then, suddenly she sprinted her walk and, the moment she put a foot out of the building, she started running to the car. She searched for the keys in her purse.

 _No, no. no! It isn't true… it can't be possible._ Walter was gone. Toby left the room one minute to grab a cup of tea and the next moment Walter was vanished. And since he couldn't possibly woke up and walk out on his own, someone could have abducted him. It didn't make sense at all.  
The phone started ringing again. The screen showed Toby's big face.

"Toby! What happened?" she screamed.

"Paige, Paige, calm down… I need you to meet me at the address you I just sent you. Ok?"

"But Walter? He's-" she was on the verge of crying… again.

"Shh… hush. Listen, everything's fine. He is fine. We need to hurry!"

"Toby… what the hell are you talking about? Someone captured him!" she found her keys and once the door was open she jumped on the driver seat ready to give gas.

"No… He wasn't captured.I only _'moved'_ him" Paige couldn't believe her ears "…you are the only one who knows. I'll explain everything once you arrive, better not on the phone… Hurry, NOW!".

 _ **To be continued…**_


	4. Chapter 3 - Coma

_Thank you so much for last reviews. Enjoy a new chapter!_

* * *

 _ **Chapter**_ _ **3  
Coma**_

 _Walter's mind_

"Mr. O'Brien, you're under arrest for the murder of Jeremy Hills." Megan faked the voice of a cowboy and pointed two fingers at her brother's head as her hand was a gun. Unimpressed, Walter stared back at her with an indecipherable look on his face, but soon he shook his head quickly enough to hide a smile formed on his lips.

"That's not funny, you know?" He walked past her and grabbed an eraser to remove the white line from the blackboard, leaving only one word: SHOT. The face of the shooter was still a blur in his memory, but rewinding the events of the last few days step by step, things started coming to frame.

"So, Walt… what happened next?" Megan comfortably sat on the couch. Walter noticed for the first time that her crutches were nowhere to be found. He knew that she was only a projection of his mind, but still he was so excited and happy at the same time. In this place she was healthy again.

Noticing that her sister eagerness, he cleared his throat and ran his fingers through his short curls.  
"Let's see… two agents escorted me out of the garage and pushed me inside a black SUV, a Lexus LX570… They were silent for most of the time and I was focus on my thoughts, you know… calculating the odds of me being possibly mistaken with someone else, but in the end, if Hills was dead then someone was planning to frame me because I knew something, ergo that someone was controlling me." Walter meditated on his last words before he continued "I didn't pay much attention to the agents on the front seats, but mostly at the road we were traveling on…"

"They weren't Homeland's agents" Megan interject like she was stating the obvious.

"No, in fact… FBI." Walter paused to look out of the window and suddenly he realized that his mind was showing him the streets he ran in that ride, just like he was sitting in the car seat of that SUV once again. "they were FBI. And I shot one of them".

"You did what?" Megan jumped off the couch astounded.

"Hey… easy there." Walter replied raising a hand. "You would have done the same thing if you had a gun pointed at your back… someone payed them to kill me and make it looks like an accident.".

Megan throw an idea. "Adriana Molina, perhaps?".

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

 _February 11, 2016  
Morning – Streets of Los Angeles_

Walter was staring out of the car window concentrated. Thinking about is current situation. His mind was racing trying to capture any details in his memory that could have led him to the reason why someone took the trouble to frame him. He already excluded an error, too many clues connected with one another. The hacker ran from DC and ended up dead in LA. The same person that tip him off, probably staged the murder too and made it look like he was the perpetrator.  
His thought were suddenly interrupted when the car turned in the wrong direction, Walter and his team once worked with the FBI and Walter knew where the their Headquarters, but he didn't say a word. After a couple of minutes the car stopped in a dirt and isolate place full of garbage, and yes… how convenient.  
Alerted, Walter started planning a way out of this mess. He needed to think fast because _something_ terrible was going to happen and he was running out of time. He checked the surroundings, but nothing came up to mind. His eyes were magnetized to the agent's guns when he realized they weren't in their holsters.

The agent on the passenger seat jumped off the car and opened his door. "Get off".

Walter didn't move a muscle.

"I said get off". The man repeated, raising a gun raised at his chest. "Move!"

"Ok…, ok." Walter cautiously exited the vehicle with the hands laced on his back.  
A plan popped up in his mind, but it was an hurtful one. Walter remembered watching a video once, it showed a man who taught how to get off the handcuffs from your wrists dislocating the thumb, but Walter never tried the method before. Actually he cared more about his thumbs than about his curiosity.  
The genius shifted the weight on the left foot climbing off the car ready to put his plan in motion, but immediately stopped once he noticed the keys in the hands of the agent. He was removing his handcuffs.

Walter found himself saying "I don't understand".

"Now you run" the man behind him said slowly loading his gun. The blood froze in his veins as Walter realize what was going on… whatever happened to that hacker was going to happen to him too, he was sure.

 _ **Rule n°1 always go for the nose.**_ Cabe's words echoed in his head and he nod to himself.

The genius turned and in a second his fist was on the agent nose who whimpered for the unexpected pain. Immediately he kicked the gun off his hand, sending it far away. Unfortunately Walter didn't hear the second agent jumping off the car because suddenly he was lying on his back taking one, two punches in the stomach.  
The agent with the bleeding nose yelled something like "You ruined everything… you son of a…".  
Walter could barely breath and the agent on top of him got up leaving him there coughing.

"Where is your gun, Weller?" the man asked the agent. Walter figured that the second agent was actually the 'boss'. Taller, good posture and icy look… Toby would have probably figured it out sooner.

"He kicked it somewhere here… under the garbage can. I'm trying to reach it but I can't see a thing". Weller replied on his knees.

 _Because it's not there, idiot_. Walter thought to himself eyeing the gun few feet away from where the two agents were standing, right behind the corner. He took time to look around while he counted that the boss checked on him twice. Walter presumed he was trying to find a plan B to get rid of him and, for his own sake and luck, it seemed like hadn't find one yet. Walter searched the area for a weapon. There were quite few objects, too far from his position though. Finally his sight caught the perfect weapon.  
It was now or never.  
He grasped a piece of wood from a broken chair and with all the strength he had, Walter lowered it onto the head of the boss. Weller turned as soon as he heard the lament of his partner ready to attack, nonetheless Walter avoided a punch that flew dangerously close to his jaw and he raced toward the corner where he spotted the gun.  
The agent right behind him managed to push him on the ground and Walter's fingers missed the gun for few inches. Weller was trying to keep him still, grabbing his shirt, while Walter stretched his arm and touched the gun with his fingertips. Feeling that the man was now leaping over him, he put together all his efforts once again and finally reached the weapon. Grabbing the stock of the firearm the genius let Weller pull him down. Blind, Walter pointed the gun behind and pulled the trigger.  
He soon realized that the FBI agent was hurt, sideswipe while the _boss_ was still out as a light lying face down on the concrete.

Walter watched the gun in his hand and realized he was shivering. For the first time in his life he didn't know what to do.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

 _Later that evening - Garage_

A tall FBI agent opened the car door for Paige to get in.  
"Oh, how stupid… I forgot my home keys on the table" she excused herself and walked fast inside the garage to catch them, while the man waited outside.

Paige was visibly flustered by the events of that day. First Walter was accused of murder and taken into custody, then he ran away with a gun, after he shot an agent in the leg and hit the other in the head. _What the hell, Walt?_ The team wanted so badly to take part of the case to help clearing their friend's name but, as expected, the FBI put them immediately under surveillance and now they were going to be escorted home one by one. She was the last to leave while Ralph stayed at Sylvester's for the night.  
Reaching the conference table, Paige spotted her keys next to the interphone on her desk. The moment she grabbed them she heard a weaknoise coming from upstairs.  
The agents assigned to the case searched Walter's loft for most of the day and interrogated each one of the team to find out if everyone or some of them were accomplices.  
The first thing that popped in Paige's mind was that the ferret escaped from his cage made that noise, although Walter gave it to Ralph the week before for who knows what reason (they didn't tell her). So, by the time that curiosity took the best of her she was already pushing the door open at the top of the stairs.

She almost dropped the keys on the floor. Paige couldn't believe her eyes. "Walter?". Her voice startled him.

"What are you doing here?" impulsively he asked her from the middle of the dark room.

"That should be my question… um?" She answered checking the door and immediately walking toward him. "Are you okay? The FBI told us what happened this morning..." Paige noticed some bruised on his cheek but restrained herself to touch him, afraid he might upset him. She didn't want him to push her away again.

"I'm fine…" he deadpanned shifting his eyes on the desk "I'm looking for my devices, computer, hard disks,… but looks like the FBI confiscated everything and made a mess while doing it" he looked around, beat. "Fortunately I always make a copy of my work and keep it far away from unwanted hands. Did the agents checked my car?"

Paige watched him confused "N-no… I don't think so, why?".

"Perfect!" he raised his eyebrows ready to walk away.

"Walter, what's going on? How can I help you?" Paige searched for an eye contact but he was clearly uncomfortable as he kept avoiding her stare.

"I-I'm sorry." He faked a smile and gave her an imperceptible nod with the head. "I don't have time… so if you'd bother to not tell anyone that I was here…".

Walter walked past her when Paige grabbed his arm and made him spinning around and back in front of her. Finally he dared to look into her eyes revealing a mix of emotions, he was conflicted.

"Talk to me, Walter.. please.".

He bit his lower lip "Every action I did today was in self-defense… y-you… you don't believe I'm guilty, right?" he was afraid, unsure and vulnerable. "Paige, do you really think I killed-"

"No!" she shut him up placing a finger on his lips absorbed in his dark eyes. "Don't even think about it".

Walter's brain crashed for a couple of seconds before realizing she touched him. He didn't exactly freeze under that physical contact, quite the opposite. Soon she removed her hand and she took a step back embarrassed.

"I shot that agent, yes," he talked lowering his voice "and I hit the other one. They were going to kill me…" he efficiently described her the events up to that moment.

"It doesn't make sense… why should someone frame you just to kill you the next minute?" Paige was confused as much as Walter.

"I believe that is connected to the research I was working on. Remember the stock of silver pins?" she nodded "I might have a lead… I don't know, I find it odd that when I found a big clue the next day I'm arrested and for the murder of the guy we were searching for our last case?... Someone is controlling what I'm doing, it's the only logic explanation." Paige was listening interested, that could have helped her and the guys to help him out of troubles.

"Listen, I know things weren't that good between us lately and it's all my fault" Walter continued "but I'm-"

"It's ok, Walt. I wanted to talk to you about _our_ situation this morning…" Paige smiled. The closeness between them weighted as they were barely touching but either of them dared to walk away. Unconsciously she raised the arm and with a soft touch her fingers traced a line on his cheek. He didn't flinch "I wanted to talk about _us_ , but… I need to go now. The agent downstairs is waiting for me. I'm surprised he didn't came in already to assure I'm not running away" she ended in a whisper, more and more focused on his lips.

Walter was lost in her eyes and for a very long moment he forgot why he was there. Her touch sent a shiver down his spine and he heard his heart racing in his chest and he notice the way her eyes tilted once in a while on his lips. He counted three, four times.  
"You have to go, got it" Walter found his voice again but, instead of take a step back he leaned in, dangerously close to her lips.  
Paige closed her eyes but the kiss never arrived. She imagined he froze like he was used to, so before she re-opened her eyes she almost thought he was gone. Still, he was there staring deep into her eyes.

"You are going to make a hole in my head if you keep staring at me like that" she whispered giggling. Paige understood his reluctance. It was her turn to lean in…

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

 _Walter's mind_

A loud crash shook both Walter and Megan who grasped the first thing near them. It sounded like an earthquake!  
 _What the hell?_ Walter thought right before a loud voice came out from Toby's stereo/radio.

 _ **Sorry pal, but we need to go. Now.**_ It was Toby and whatever he was doing he was causing some shakes, probably he was moving him. But… why?

"What happened?" Megan asked him with her eyes wide open. She jumped out of the couch as soon as the objects in the room started moving again.

"I don't know, Toby must have something in mind or he wouldn't-"

"No, silly." Megan shook her head. "I meant with Paige"

"What?" Walter didn't expected that question and he shrugged. "You know what happened, you're a projection of my mind". But his answer wasn't satisfying since she cocked her head waiting.

"Ok…" he surrendered "she was about… to k-kiss me, but the FBI agent stumbled into the tool box that Happy left near the stairs, I'm not sure why that box was there, however… he made a loud noise, Paige jumped scared and immediately turn away whispering to take care and that my secret was safe with her. So she left to prevent the man to find out I was there.".  
Another _earthquake_ hit the garage. "Dammit Toby! Be more careful!" Walter shouted, but knowing it was physically impossible couldn't hear him anyway.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

 _February 16, 2016  
Afternoon – Apartment Building_

Paige followed Toby's instructions and arrived to an anonymous building.

 _ **3**_ _ **rd**_ _ **Floor - Apt. 9**_

She knocked once on the door, then other two times as they had established. Toby opened the door and pushed her in unceremoniously and rapidly observed both side of the hall assuring no one was there.

The apartment was sober, with an essential furniture. Paige didn't take much of a look around, she just went straight to the bedroom where she supposed Walter was. She approached the bed and sat on a side leaning on to check the temperature of his forehead.

"Don't worry, he's fine." Toby said slowly but Paige wasn't paying much attention to his words since, she was upset.

"What the hell were you thinking?" she snapped without even looking at him. Her attention was focused on Walter her hands ran on the cover drawing his silhouette from the feet to his shoulder. The young woman adjusted the pillow behind his head and caressed slowly his forehead. "Are you crazy?" she turned to see Toby intent to study her which it only irritated her more.

The doctor was aware of what was passing through her mind, but it was normal for someone who's in love. So he tried another approach. "I know you went to see Molina. How was her?"

"What?! Do not change argument. Why is he here? Why didn't you tell everyone your _clever_ plan?"

"Because they don't trust my judgment anymore. Last thing they told me was that my conspiracy theory is ridiculous!" he let escape a desperate laugh and sat on the chair near his friends.  
"Truth is…". he continued pointing at Walter "…we spent two days searching for the person who shoot him, while we should have concentrate on _why_ he was shot. It's all connected… the hacker's death, those three important figures of the law whose life was attempted, Molina framing him, the girl... Who's that girl?"

Paige nodded reluctantly. "We don't know and Molina doesn't talk…" she cupped Walter's cheek "she,… Molina…, was afraid of something. Or someone."

"Exactly!" Toby conjoined his hands. "Walter called us to warn us about a vengeance toward a judge, a sergeant and a senator. The perpetrator used silver pins… same stock we confiscated from a group of dummies who mistakenly entered the wrong building? That's absurd. Yet, I think that Walter was looking for evidence that could prove his innocence and stumbled -"

"No, he was working on that few days before, the stock of silver pins, and after he ran from the FBI he came back to the garage to grab an hard disk containing the same research".

"So, maybe, he found something that connected the two things and that's why Molina and whoever she work for framed him for murder. They used the last person who escaped from us and orchestrated a very good show… They wanted to stop him from finding the _truth,_ because… he found it".

Paige was confused and Toby read it all over her face "What are you thinking?"

"Walter told me that those two FBI agents he assaulted wanted to kill him and make it looks like an accident".

"And that's another good reason to put my plan in motion immediately… we're going to wake him up". Toby moved back the chair but Paige place herself in front of Walter as a shield.

"No way."

"Paige, listen to me-". Toby tried.

"No, the doctor said it could hurt him and I won't let you do it… never".

"I know… but think about it. It's not ended yet, he's here, alive. And there's a good chance that someone out there, who most probably controlled each move we made up to this very moment. What if the doctor told us that Walter is in a deep coma just to prevent us from wake him up?"

Paige rolled her eyes and put her hands on her waist "Unbelievable. Now I understand why the guys said your theory was ridiculous. According to you, everyone is implied in the _conspiracy!_ " she marked the last word doing a quote sign with her fingers up in the air.

"Ok…" Toby surrendered "I called you here because I thought you and I were on the same page. And also because I know you two are attached and…" he looked up "you know, never upset the wife when it's not needed. Looks like I ended up doing the opposite".

Paige stared at him utterly confused, even if she was going red for the only assumption of being called Walter's wife. And God if liked the sound of that.  
Although she recovered immediately and sent Toby a deadly glare.

"Fine, Mr. Harvard. I admit that the behavior of Adriana Molina got me suspicious, but still I won't let you wake Walter from the coma. You're not going to hurt him under my watch".

Toby nodded and waited. Finally he caught a moment of distraction and approached the side of the bed and with a syringe he previously prepared. Paige didn't have the time to react when Toby hit Walter in the chest and injected all the liquid contained in the syringe into his body.

"NO! What the hell?!" shocked by Toby's betrayal she started punch him in the arm and chest. He tried to stop her without success. _Damn she hit hard_! "Why did you do it? Oh God… no." She was crying.

"Hey hey… Paige! Look at me." He said trying to calm her down. "It's only adrenaline. It's giving him a-"

He didn't have the chance to finish his explanation when the adrenaline already kicked in Walter's body causing him to wake up abruptly. Walter tried hard to catch his breath.

 **To be continued…**


End file.
